


Smoke and Monsters

by Cayloom



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25788133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cayloom/pseuds/Cayloom
Summary: In nineteen ninety-seven, the trio of Kepler citizens known as the pine guard face off against their latest abomination. Thacker, Mike, and Mama must go toe to toe against a being made of flame, and come out on top.
Kudos: 2





	Smoke and Monsters

October fifteenth, nineteen ninety-seven, and the three days that followed were not likely to be ones that Madeline Cobb - nicknamed Mama by her compatriots - would ever forget. As night fell, the full moon rose, and in a clearing near Amnesty Lodge, an archway that only a select few could see lit up with a brilliant white light. The red glow of the pizza hut sign buzzed to life, along with the streetlights along the highway that cut through Kepler. It was a quiet night, accompanied by the minute sounds of the forest - bugs buzzing, the occasional tree branch cracking, wild animals either brave enough or dumb enough to go that close to civilization. All that day, the pine guard had been preparing, making ready as much as they could, to face something they didn’t quite know yet. The last hunt - three months ago this had been - had been a huge worm, with razor sharp teeth that burrowed through the ground. It had been difficult, and they’d almost lost the window of time they had where it - the abomination, as they called all of its kind - had to stay in the mile radius around amnesty lodge. More specifically, the archway.  
Arlo Thacker, an old friend of Mama’s, had dealt it the finishing blow, and had been laid up injured in the hospital until just the month before. He walked with a bit of a limp - one that would go away later in life, the doctors assured him - but otherwise seemed fine. He was ready for the hunt, and Mama was, too. Just another day at the job, she thought. And yet, something had seemed off the whole day. The air was still with anticipation - almost palpable - and she wasn’t the only one who felt it. The sylphs, that is, the refugees from the world on the other side of the arch known as Sylvain, had expressed this to Mama throughout the day. Moira, a rather transparent sylph, had approached her, leaving her beloved piano for a moment to say that something felt… off. Mama had assured her that it was normal, just pre-hunt jitters, and nothing to worry about.  
In Amnesty lodge, the home of a small handful of exiled Sylphs, Mama got ready to turn in for the day. She walked to the back of the lodge, through the dining room, and locked the back doors which led to the hot springs. She stared out into the night for a moment through the window, then sighed, and turned away.  
“Not gonna lock me in here, are you?”  
Mama jumped with surprise, then let out a laugh. Standing in the doorway between the dining room and the front lobby, was Thacker. He was youngish then - Mama wasn’t sure if he had ever been young - with unkempt salt and pepper hair, and a somehow more unkempt beard. His green eyes shone with anticipation of the coming hunt, and he had a wry smile on his face.  
“Jesus Thacker, scared the shit outta me.” Mama said, smiling. Thacker shrugged.  
“Gotta keep you on your toes! Never know what’s gonna happen tomorrow.” he replied. Mama nodded. The hunts, while punctual, were never predictable.  
“Why’re you still here Thacker?”  
He held up a brand new Macbook laptop, smiling. “Just finishing up transferring the backlog onto this here personal computer, as well as starting the next log. Doesn’t hurt to be prepared, you know.”  
Mama shook her head. “That thing ain’t gonna last, Thacker. Might as well stick to a notebook like the rest of us.”  
“We’ll see.” he said evenly, cradling the laptop as if it were a child.  
“You stayin’ here for the night? Or are you headed home?” Mama asked him. Thacker shrugged.  
“Hadn’t thought about it. I suppose it is easier if I were to stay here. Would save on gas, too.” he said. Thacker pondered this for a few moments.  
“What the hey, I’ll stay. Grab me a key?”  
“Grab it yourself, you know where they are.”  
Together, they walked back into the lobby. Thacker hopping behind the front desk, and procuring a small key with a diamond shaped green plastic tab on it which read ‘Amnesty lodge, room three’ on it in white lettering. He jingled it at Mama, and walked into the western wing. Mama rolled her eyes at his back, then went into her office, locking the door behind her. She dumped the things in her pockets - a few pencils, a pack of kleenex, and some gum - on her already messy desk, then headed into the room beyond, where she collapsed into her bed, and fell into a dreamless sleep.  
On the other side of Kepler, in the Miller household, the fireplace roared to life. The flames licked the top of the hearth, then beyond to the ceiling. Soon, the rug caught fire, flames spreading across it like a mold. The fire alarm went off for just thirty seconds - giving the Millers ample time to escape - before it melted off the ceiling and fell into the fire, its batteries popping from the heat. As if by a mind of its own, the fire spread not up, but down, it roared through the basement, unfortunately carpeted, and came in contact with the gas line. By the time the fire department got there, five and a half minutes later, the house was burnt, but mainly unscathed. The fire, despite having an ample supply of wood and fuel, had completely gone out.

-

The first morning of the hunt saw the three members of the pine guard sitting in the dining room. A fourteen year old Sylph named Rory had brought out sandwiches for them, and they ate contentedly before getting down to business. There was Mama, to her right was Thacker, and to her left, a man named Michael Ramsay, who everyone just called Mike. the sandwiches finished, they transitioned the topic of conversation to the hunt.  
“Any news so far?” Mama asked. It was only eight in the morning, but usually the abomination had been active by then. Thacker shrugged.  
“I haven’t heard anything yet.” he said, “of course, I haven’t exactly been looking, either.”  
“Mike? What about you?” she asked. Mike nodded, and handed her a map. Circled in red pen was a single house, on maple street across from St. Francis medical center.  
“Yesterday, John Miller, a friend of mine, his house caught fire.” he said. Mama glanced up at him, then back down to the paper.  
“That is unfortunate.” Thacker said, leaning back on his chair.  
“According to the Millers - who all made it out in time, thank god - the fire didn’t seem to engulf the house from the ground up, leastaways ‘till it hit the gas line.”  
“Hit the gas line?” Mama said. Mike nodded.  
“Melted clear through the metal. Should’ve taken down every house on the block, but it looks like the fire just… stopped.” he said, trying not to smile.  
“So let me get this clear. We’ve got a fire that seemed to do the opposite of what a fire does, right in the window of the abomination?” Mama said. Mike gave in, and smiled wide.  
“Looks like we’ve got a hunt on our hands, boys.” she said.  
“A fire that burns downwards, and can seem to shut itself off when it needs to. Hell of an abomination we’ve got here.” Thacker said, “we haven’t ever had to deal with sentient fire before.”  
“Yeah, well, we hadn’t ever had to deal with a worm with teeth before either, but here we are Thacker.”  
Thacker raised his hands in a ‘fair point’ gesture, and settled the front two legs of his chair back on the ground.  
“So, Mike and I, we go check out the Millers place, Maddie, you go see where the gas line connects to?” Thacker suggested. Mama shrugged.  
“Sure, not sure how I’ll do that, but I’ll do it.” she said. Mike slid his chair back, got up, and stretched.  
“Alright Pine Guard, we’ve got a plan, lets hunt!” he said. Thacker smiled at his excitement - Mike had only joined up a few hunts ago, and was still brimming with optimism - and got up as well. Together, they walked out of the Lodge, and split off, Mama going to her large truck, a fairly new expense she thought was paying off rather well, and Mike and Thacker getting into Mike’s Jeep. Mama drove off towards Kepler Public Works, which was across the street from city hall. 

-

The Kepler Public Works building was a short, squat one story building that housed several municipal services that most larger cities would keep in separate buildings. Mama pulled into the building parking lot, her window rolled down to savour the cool October breeze. Leaning on the back of the building, not so much smoking a cigarette as he was holding it and breathing, was Mr. Slooper, a man Mama recognized due to her surprising number of visits to the Kepler Public Works building. Slooper - once a third grade teacher - nodded at her, gesturing with his cigarette.  
“Mornin’, miss Cobb. what can I do for ya?” he asked. Even without the cigarette, his voice was fairly raspy, and she strained to hear it over the sound of the semi-broken gas generator he was standing beside.  
“Well, if you could answer without me even going inside, that’d be swell! Mr. Slooper, I was wondering if you knew where the gas lines in Kepler connect to.” she said, “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Miller’s house had a fire, and it nearly hit their gas line. I’m just trying to make sure Amnesty Lodge isn’t in any danger if a fire does hit a line, and said line blows.”  
“Gas lines? Well, I do believe they join up at a junction somewhere near the old mine, due north of your lodge, but don’t quote me on that. May need to go inside an’ verify that with the ol’ heating an’ power division.” Replied Mr. Slooper. Mama nodded. While Slooper generally provided good information, it was always better to verify it, especially during a hunt. Mama thanked him, and began to walk around to the front of the building.  
“Peculiar name for a lodge, Amnesty.” Slooper said, finally taking a drag of his nearly burnt out cigarette. He dropped it to the floor, exhaling as he did so, and lit another one, not bothering to snuff his first out. Mama thought of the exiled Sylphs living in the lodge, ones who would likely never see the far off sky of Sylvian again, and shrugged.  
“I think it’s fitting. Have a good mornin’, Mr. Slooper.” she said. He nodded at her again, and she went around and inside.  
It was a dark building, even with the fluorescent lights recently installed. It was just one of those buildings that was dark, no matter how many flashlights or light bulbs or lamps you put into it. Everyone's been it at least one, a building that you just couldn’t help but squint in. Mama squinted, and looked at the signs on the doors down the main hall, until she came to Heating & Power. She gave a perfunctory knock, and walked into a large room with two computer banks on either side, and a desk in the middle. The banks had monitors at the top, and several rows of dials, each one labelled neatly with tape, showing the name of a street in Kepler. Rather foolishly, Mama’s pride swelled when she saw the dial marked ‘Amnesty Lodge’. A man coughed, and she turned to look at the desk.  
He was a short, slight man, with a pair of fine rimmed glasses sitting atop his crooked nose. His hair was short, slightly greasy, and swept to one side like a poorly executed combover.  
“Yes?” he asked in a nasally voice.  
“Hey there, My name’s Madeline Cobb, I was -”  
“The sculptor, yes.” he said, cutting her off. Mama waited a beat, then regained her composure.  
“Yeah, the sculptor. I had a few questions regardin’ the gas lines in town, see, there was a fire down on-”  
“The fire on Maple street? What of it?” he said, cutting her off again. Mama’s smile faltered, revealing the annoyance beneath her. Luckily, it was a dark building, and he didn’t notice.  
“Yeah, well, see the thing is, I was wondering if you could tell me where the gas lines all went? Because-”  
“Why would you want to know that?” the man said, leaning back in his chair, making it creak loudly.  
“Maybe if you waited a minute I could tell you.” Mama replied, an edge to her voice. The man raised his arms in an ‘I surrender’ gesture, and she continued.  
“As I was sayin’, I heard that the fire in the Miller’s house nearly hit their gas line, and I know that that’d blow the whole block, but see I was wonderin’ whether or not my lodge was connected to the same line, and if I’d have to worry about that.”  
The man yawned - Yawned! - and leaned forward in his chair. Mama felt her temper begin to rise as this cretin opened a packet of life savers mints, took one out, and began to chew it open mouthed.  
“Well you see.” he said between chews, “thing is, this town was built oh… about eighteen-twelve. By the time that they got gas heating in here, they were just figuring the stuff out.”  
He paused, and reached for another mint, chewing this one the same way.  
“So,” he continued, “all the gas lines throughout kepler, they run from this mine, a bit north of the town. They run all the way down here, then branch out, like a… a…”  
“He reached for another mint, but Mama pushed them off his desk, into a trash can. She leaned forwards, until she was much closer to the man than she ever cared to be, smelling his oddly sour scent. She was a large woman, and formidable. She stared the man in the eyes, and behind the thin rimmed glasses, his eyes went beady.  
“Well, it doesn’t rightly matter like what,” He said, regaining the appalachian accent he had apparently been fighting to lose, “They spread out throughout the town, an’ they meet a junction just outside that mine, abandoned now. From there, they go to that power plant up near Webster springs. Every friday we’ve got to cycle it from stations around town, at about noon.”  
“And where’s the station that say… Church street connects to?”  
The weaselly man didn’t even need to think about it. “Well, technically we cycle them from here but the station’s the same one as this building, just beside Whistles’ auto yard.”  
Mama nodded, not even deigning a goodbye. She walked out of the building just as Slooper came inside.  
“Learn what you came here to?” he asked.  
“Yeah, bit of a battle, but I learned it.”  
Slooper chuckled. “Yeah, that’s the way it is with ol’ trevor. Pain in the ass. Does good work though. See you around, Miss Cobb.”  
Around the back, walked towards her truck, and climbed in. she reached into her Jacket - a thin spring windbreaker that she would have to replace - and wrote down what she had learned. Thacker might have a computer, but Mama was fine with the old pen and paper. She wrote it slowly, omitting no details, and didn’t notice the roiling, burning mass of smoke coming from the mostly broken gas generator in the back of the Kepler Public Works building, connecting with the lit Cigarette Mr. Slooper had left on the ground. The smoke burst briefly into flames with a Fwoom noise, and finally, Mama looked up.

-

Mike and Thacker pulled into the Miller’s driveway, just behind what appeared to be a recently bought - or rented - winnebago. The Millers, John, his wife Rebecca, and their daughter Natalie, were slowly moving things from their home, into the winnebago. The Jeep backfired once, drawing all their attention to it. Mike sheepishly looked at Thacker, who sighed.  
“Ok, game plan. You know them, right? You’re here to offer consolation. You introduce me as… lets say a professional restorer, ask if I can take a look at their house. Got it?”  
Mike nodded, tried to open the door to the jeep. As usual, the handle got stuck. After a few tries, he threw the door open with much more force than intended. He kept meaning to get that fixed, he knew it would be the death of him, but he had never bothered, even though he’d had his jeep for nigh on six years now. He waved at John Miller, who was up on his porch, carrying a basket of clothes. Thacker walked around the front of the jeep and joined Mike as he walked up.  
“Hey John, I heard about what happened, hell of a thing.” he said. John nodded, smiling, despite what had happened the night before.  
“Hell of a thing indeed, MIke. thank goodness no one was hurt, just the flooring.”  
The two of them laughed. After a few moments, Mike quieted down.  
“How’re Rebecca and Nat holding up?” he asked. John shrugged.  
“Good, surprisingly. None of Nat’s things were burned. Rebecca’s just mad we’re going to live in the RV park, the one on East River.” he explained, gesturing to the winnebago, “We’re just packing up to head off now. I’ve got to make some calls and see if I can find a contractor or someone who’ll fix this.”  
Mike nodded, then gestured to Thacker. “Actually, my friend here is a professional restorer, John, meet Arlo Thacker, Thacker, John Miller.”  
The two men shook hands. Thacker stood shorter than John, even though John was just average height, causing Thacker to look up at him slightly.  
“Good to meet you, Mr. Miller.”  
“Please, Just John is fine. A professional restorer?”  
Thacker nodded. “Yeah, actually. Odd name, I know, but think of me as a more… specialized contractor. I like to survey the damage, and if I can’t fix it - which, don’t mean to brag, but I usually can - I refer you to someone else who can. The survey doesn’t cost a penny, either.”  
“I thought he might be able to take a look at the house, see the damage, if that’s ok.” Mike said. John thought about it for a moment, then shrugged.  
“Sure, I don’t mind. Mike, I’ll give you a spare key so you can close up when you’re done, me and the family are gonna go head down to the RV Park. I’ll pick it up from you at poker on sunday.”  
John fished around in his pocket, and produced a silver key, which he handed to Mike, he thanked Thacker, who assured him it was no big deal, then walked down to the winnebago.  
“Trusting man. Let’s head inside.” Thacker said. Mike followed him in.  
In the front foyer alone the damage was evident, and odd. The hardwood floor had a blackened trail leading from one doorway to another just across from it. Thacker walked into the doorway on his right, and whistled.  
“Look at this, Mike. looks like the fire reared up and shot its way across the house.”  
Mike nodded. The ceiling above the fireplace was charred and flaking, reminding him of a summer day when he had burnt a steak so bad he’d just put it in the fire pit as charcoal. Flakes of blackened ceiling curled out to reveal equally black wood underneath.  
“It’s a miracle the fire didn’t take the whole house down with it. Er… not a miracle, exactly. You know what I mean.” he said. Thacker nodded, down on one knee. Despite the blackened appearance of the hardwood, it was still incredibly solid.  
“No structural damage, seems like.” he said, pressing into the scorched floor. Mike followed the trail a ways into the front hallway, and nearly kicked a piece of twisted white plastic that was laying on the floor.  
“Hey Thacker! What do you think this is?” he asked. Thacker grunted as he got to his feet, and walked over. He looked down at the plastic wad, kicked it over, then looked up. Mike followed his gaze, and saw a nail put into the ceiling.  
“Ah. Fire alarm.” Mike said, answering his own question.  
“Makes sense, fire burns hot.” Thacker said. Mike shook his head.  
“Look. in the doorways, the fire only reaches about three inches off the ground. Plastic melts at about three-forty degrees, if I remember rightly, so this fire had to be radiating heat up six and a half feet, while still being hot enough to melt plastic.  
“Alright smart guy, what does that mean?”  
“Either this fire was hot enough to spontaneously combust wood, which obviously wasn’t the case, or it was controlled, and went after the fire alarm for some reason.”  
Thacker looked at the trail of char it had left, and nodded. “It makes sense that this thing went after the fire alarm directly. Remember the worm, how it tried to attack the tram like eight times? It didn’t even have eyes, but it knew that there were people on it. These abominations, they’ve gotta have some knowledge that helps ‘em, from wherever in Sylvain they come from, they gotta know things about our world.”  
“So it knew that… that the fire alarm would bring the fire department?”  
“And it didn’t want that… so… so what?”  
“So it saw the fire alarm as a threat! It would have started going off as soon as it detected any smoke - and this thing probably made a lot of that - so it went straight after it! Wow!”  
“So this thing can go after things it perceives as threats deliberately.”  
Mike nodded, excited. They’d learned something about the abomination! He went down the stairs to the basement, no longer carpeted. Into what appeared to be the utility room. A line of black carpeting led to a metal pipe, which had been melted apart. A foot to the right on the pipe, a lever was put firmly in the off position.  
“This is their gas line.” Thacker said.  
“Wow. if this thing had gone into it two feet to the right they would’ve had to shut down the gas to the whole block.” Mike said.  
“Convenient that it didn’t. Seems it took the quickest route from one side of the room to the gas line.”  
“Wonder why it did that.” Mike said.  
“Probably it didn’t know what the lever did. Most of these abominations are simple minded. This one can probably sense gas, or fire or something flammable maybe, and went straight for it. But it didn’t blow it up immediately. it… put itself out. Why?”  
Mike shrugged. “Maybe it didn’t want to blow itself up. Maybe it wants to find something bigger to use, instead of blowing up its only fuel source.”  
Thacker poked the edge of the thin pipe, where the metal had cooled into a thick bubbled edge, then straightened up.  
“You might be right. We’ve seen all we can see, why don’t we head back to the lodge, meet Mama there.”  
Mike shrugged, and they walked upstairs.  
“Why do you call her Mama?” he asked.

-

Mama swore violently, and in a split second, gathered several points of information. First, the abomination seemed to live in the smoke, gathered its form in it. If it had used pure fire as well, then that meant it was only using these things as a cloak, and the real abomination was inside it somewhere, and looking closer, she thought she could see it! A bright yellow orb floating among the smoke. Second, it was between her and the exit onto maple street. She reached forward to start her truck, then paused, her hand hovering above the key already slotted in the ignition. Although new, her truck was terrible on gas, and already had some problem with the exhaust, it seemed to spew out black as soon as you turned the car on. She kept meaning to get it fixed, but she’d been busy. She took her hand away from the ignition, and looked back up at the rearview mirror. The abomination was slowly moving towards her. Moving quickly, she reached into her back seat, picked up a long, thin package she’d been keeping there for the past week, and stepped out onto the asphalt.  
She turned to face the abomination, and was immediately buffeted by the heat it gave off, grabbing her hat before the it blew away. She watched as the smoke billowed up into the sky, and eventually dissipated from the stiff breeze that had kicked up. The main bulk of the abomination, however, seemed to be immune to this breeze. She could see the yellow orb, fairly large, floating in the smoke, seeming to use it as cover. There wasn’t much smoke, the generator only kicked up a bit, but what there was, was being put to good use by the abomination. She saw a tendril of black smoke unfurl out of the main body, and years later, while watching a dvd of the TV show LOST, she would fall into a panic as she watched the smoke monster do the same thing. For now, she quickly took off the wrapping off of the thin package she was holding.  
“Dang tape. I gotta stop covering this stuff in masking tape, holy jeez.” she muttered. Finally, she ripped it clean off, revealing an expertly carved spear shaft, with an iron head filed to a razor sharp point. It was fairly light, but would do a lot of damage. She had carved it herself.  
“Alright now I’m gonna give you one chance to go down easy, alright?” she called to the smoke. The tendril of smoke made a jab towards her head, and Mama quickly ducked, rolling to her side and coming up on one knee.  
“Alright, I warned you, you son of a bitch.” she said. She launched the spear forwards, trying to hit the orb of light which was fairly close to the ground. She watched as the spear pierced the light, then went through it, landing with a ka-chunk somewhere behind the abomination. The smoke recoiled slightly, then surged forwards, threatening to overtake Mama.  
“Aw shit.” she said. She closed her eyes and thrust herself backwards to dodge. even she knew it wouldn't work, but rather than flames, all she felt was the vaguely greasy heat of smoke.  
Opening one eye cautiously, she saw that the smoke had dissipated around her. Her spear had pierced through the half-broken generator, turning it into the full-broken generator, stopping it. She breathed a sigh of relief, and went to retrieve her spear. The parking lot was surrounded by a chain link fence, with trees on the other side providing decent cover. It was very convenient that no one saw her, she thought. Spear placed once again in the back seat, she keyed the ignition, took a few breaths, and pulled out of the parking lot, headed for Amnesty lodge.

-

Thacker and Mike beat Mama back to the lodge, and were waiting for her there when she walked in. they motioned her to sit down, and Rory brought them all coffee.  
“Thanks, Rory.” Mama said, “so, what do you guys have?”  
Mike gave Rory a high five and looked at Thacker, who nudged him on.  
“Well, it can change its form, or what it travels through, at least. It went from fire to gas, so we think it’s just something flammable. That, and it seems to know what constitutes a threat to it, and it can, ahh… go after them? I don’t know if that sounds crazy or not, but that’s what we saw.”  
Mama thought it over as Thacker click clacked away at his laptop. “Hm. I don’t think it can go into anything flammable, but I saw it when I went to the Kepler Public Works. It attacked me in the back parking lot. There was a… uh, an old generator all busted up in the back, an’ it was spewing smoke out the top of it. When I came back out, it was there. It looked like a big smoke monster to me, but there was this ball of yellow light inside it. I think that was its weak point. I threw a spear I’d carved a little bit ago at it, but it didn’t seem to do nothin’. I broke the generator for good, an’ it disappeared.”  
“Shit, you actually got attacked by it? Are you ok?” Mike asked, his face a mask of concern. Mama smiled, and nodded.  
“This ain’t the first abomination I’ve faced, and it sure as hell won’t be the last.” Mama said, “I’m alright. Look, today’s thursday, guy at the Public Works building told me they cycle the gas every friday at noon, out by Whistles’ Auto lot. Now I say we gather up some weapons and take the fight there, afore it can get out to the main junction.”  
“Ok, weapons like what?” Thacker asked, “you said your spear didn’t do much of anything, right?”  
Mama nodded, “That’s right. But it’s fire, right? Or smoke. So if we get some hoses, maybe? Or some big fans?”  
Thacker smiled at this, but Mike nodded, deadly serious.  
“Those could work, I know a guy out in snowshoe, sells big industrial fans. We could drive out there today and see if he could loan ‘em to us for the day.”  
“Sounds good, Mike. you an’ Arlo go do that, I’m gonna stay here and rest for a bit, then head down to… well, I doubt the fire department’ll loan me their hoses. Tell you what, I’ll go down to the forest services building, see what I can rustle up from there.”  
“Sounds good. We’re having a road trip, huh Mike?”  
“Looks like. Want to take my jeep? Or your car?”  
Thacker shrugged. “My car is better.”  
“Now what do you mean your car’s better?” Mike asked incredulously.  
Mama smiled at the sound of their squabbling, finished off her coffee, and went into her office, sitting down in her chair behind her desk. She had only meant to rest her weary bones, but before she knew it, she was dead asleep.

-

A knock at her office door roused Mama from her sleep. The window at the side of the room told her it was much later than she had intended.  
“Yeah? Come on in.” she called. The door opened a crack, and Rory stuck his head in.  
“Hey Mama, sorry to bother you. I was wondering if you’d be coming in for dinner?”  
“Dinner? Wh- shit what time is it?”  
Rory checked the watch on his wrist, his artifact that prevents him from transforming into the creature most of America would know as the jersey devil.  
“Six on the dot, right now.” he replied. Mama shot up out of her seat.  
“Shit! Leave some out for me, I'll be back later!” she cried, leaving her jacket behind in her rush. She ran out to the front of the lodge and jumped into her truck, backing out and roaring down the winding road that led into Kepler proper. Ten minutes and two red lights later, she was walking into the front door of Kepler’s forest services building. The sun had fallen early tonight, and even from the short walk from her truck to the inside of the building she was shivering. Inside there was a large desk, on which a plaque read ‘Rick Dannon, Monongahela forest ranger’. Sitting behind it was a man no older than twenty five, his booted feet were up on the top of the desk, his wide brimmed hat that identified him as a park ranger was tipped low, obscuring his eyes.  
“Ranger Dannon?” Mama asked. The figure stirred slightly, then continued to sleep. She reached forwards, and rapped loudly on the top of the desk. Immediately the man reacted, nearly kicking himself backwards onto the floor. He punched his hat up, revealing bright brown eyes.  
“Wha? Huh? Oh, sorry Ma’am, slow day, and all.” he said. Mama shrugged.  
“You’re Ranger Dannon?”  
“The Danimal? No, sorry, Ranger Duck Newton, it’s a nickname. Danimal - that is, Ranger Dannon, I mean, we call him Danimal… I call him that at least - is out right now, I’m in charge.”  
From a side room, the door of which was open just a crack, a female voice shouted “No you’re not!”  
“Sorry, Juno’s in charge, actually.” Duck said sheepishly. “What can I do ya for? I mean, do for you?”  
“Well, Ranger Duck, I was wondering if I could borrow one of the hoses you guys have. I run the Amnesty lodge here in town, and we’re having a big cookout tomorrow, and well, it’s the dry season, and most of the lodge is made of wood, so I wouldn’t want anything to catch fire.”  
Duck thought this over. “One of our hoses, huh? One of the big canvas ones, I’d wager?”  
“That’s right.”  
Duck leaned back in the chair, then shrugged. “Why not. No one’ll notice. Except Juno, maybe, but fuck it, right?”  
He stood up from the desk, and gestured for Mama to follow him out the door.  
“Say, what’s your name, Ma’am?” Duck asked her.  
“Folks call me Mama, also a nickname.”  
Duck whistled low. “Hell of a nickname. Got kids?”  
Mama thought of the sylphs back at the lodge for the second time today, and shook her head. “No kids, just a strong maternal instinct I guess.” she replied, “why do they call you Duck?”  
“Oh, uh… well it’s like, one of those college nicknames… Uh, high school, nicknames, that uh… that just sorta… stick? To you? But none of them, ah… none of ‘em stuck to me, so they… called me Duck? Because like, shit just - sorry, stuff - runs off of ducks backs, I guess. And all the nicknames they gave me… all… ran off my back?” Duck sputtered.  
“You alright there, Newton? Havin’ a bit of a stroke?”  
“Fuck! Dammit! No, I - FUCK! Shit! I was trying to lie. Fuck! I don’t know why they call me fuckin Duck, they just do.”  
They approached a shed in the back of the Forest Services building, which stood in the shade of a thick copse of pine trees that connected with the rest of the Monongahela, which itself surrounded Kepler.  
“Shit, you can’t lie at all, can you?” Mama asked, smiling. Duck shook his head, and pulled out a set of keys on a large keyring. He fingered through them for a moment before producing a small silver key, which he slotted into the padlock on the front of the shed, unlocking it.  
“Scouts honor, Right? Uh, Tell no lies? Fuck.” he replied. He reached into the dark shed, and lifted a beige canvas hose off the wall. Mama saw two others hanging from nails beside it.  
“Where do you want this thing?” Duck asked her. Mama pointed to her truck, and followed Duck over to it.  
“Hey, when do you think we’ll get this back? The Danimal’ll have my ass if he does a surprise check around the shed.”  
Mama shrugged. “Sometime after noon tomorrow, I’d say.”  
Duck nodded, and stuck his hand out, Mama shook it. His grip was strong, much stronger than she’d expected from him. She had the fleeting thought of - he’d be good pine guard material - and then tuned back into what he was saying.  
“- Got it?”  
Mama shook her head. “Sorry, spaced out, what’d you say?”  
“I said, if you come in an’ someone asks who gave you the hose, tell ‘em it was Ranger Juno Divine.” He said, smiling. Mama tipped him a wink, and he walked back inside the Forest Services building.  
“Good kid.” Mama said to herself, and hopped into her truck. 

-

Pulling into Amnesty lodge, Mama was met with a peculiar sight. She’d made a quick stop at Tarkesian’s General, and it was close to seven now. The night was dark, but in the light of Amnesty Lodge’s sign, and the front light, she saw Mike and Rory. Mike was standing underneath the awning, hands on his hips, smiling at Rory as he rode around and around in circles on the gravel road in front of the lodge on a bicycle. Mama pulled to a stop and got out just as Rory did a final circuit, and got off the bicycle beside Mike.  
“Going for a late night bike ride?” Mama asked. Rory shook his head quickly.  
“Nah,” Mike said, “I’ve been teaching Rory to ride a bike in my spare time, looks like he finally mastered it. I’ve had him riding out here since we got back, oh, six thirty or so.”  
“Oh wow, I Didn’t know you didn’t know how to ride, Rory.” Mama said, moving to stand under the awning with them. Rory nodded sheepishly.  
“I never had one back in Sylvain, and it… well it seemed like fun.”  
“Yeah? Where’d you buy this one?” she asked. Again, Rory shook his head.  
“No, this isn’t mine, it’s Mikes.” he told her.  
“Not any more, Pal.” Mike told him. Rory turned his head so quick Mama thought it’d fly off, and stared at Mike.  
“You’ll get more use out of it than I do, Rory. it’s yours now.”  
Rory smiled wide, tears forming in his eyes. Mama was reminded that even though he was a Sylph, a being from another world, he was also only fourteen. There had been other jersey devils before him, his dad, for one thing, who had died when he was barely a year old. The kid was an orphan, here in the lodge, and although Mama gave him a home, maybe Mike was his only real friend. Rory jumped forwards and caught Mike in a hug. Mike laughed, then patted him on the back.  
“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! Thank you so much Mike! I love you you’re the best!”  
“Love you too kid! You’re crushing the wind out of me though!” Mike replied, laughing. Rory loosened his grip on the man, and stepped back. He looked at the bike, with it’s red frame, and whitewalled tires. It reminded Mama of a book she’d read about a haunted car. But Rory looked at it with nothing but love.  
“Come on, Rory, you can put your bike on your Veranda if you want, just wheel it through the lobby.” Mama said. Rory nodded, and went through the front door into the lodge, showing everyone who was nearby his new bike. Mama watched him wheel it carefully down the corridor, and into his room.  
“You did a good thing there, Mike.” Mama said. Mike shrugged.  
“No big deal, really. Just wanted to see the kid smile for once.”  
Mama nodded. There weren’t enough smiles going around these days.  
“So, you get that hose?” Mike asked.  
“Yeah I did, big industrial one, one of those canvas ones that’s real big. How’d it go with the fans?”  
Mike scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly. “Well, turns out the guy in Snowshoe was more into selling ceiling fans. We did get a bunch of old table fans, though. Thought that we could at least set those up to blow the smoke away if there is any.”  
Mama nodded. “Alright, better than nothing. Where’s Thacker?”  
“Home. preparing for the big fight tomorrow. Said he’d be back here ‘bout nine in the morning.”  
Mama nodded. “That’s alright, then. You stayin’ here for the night, or are you headed back too?”  
Mike looked around, then shrugged. “Guess i’ll stay here. Lemme go grab a key.”  
Much like Thacker had done, Mike hopped over the desk, and grabbed the key to an empty room, this time on the eastern wing of the lodge. He tipped Mama a wave goodnight, then headed into the room. Mama locked the front doors, then the ones leading to the hot springs, then went into her office. With any luck, tomorrow would end the hunt. She smiled to herself, stretched out, then went to bed.

-

Dawn broke on the second day of the hunt to the sound of a fire alarm in Amnesty lodge. In a heartbeat, Mama - who hadn’t been able to sleep very soundly, waking up constantly throughout the night - was on her feet, shotgun in hand. She ran out into the lobby, then into the dining room, where a thick cloud of smoke was emanating from the kitchen window.  
“Shit! Everyone out! Abomination in the lodge!” Mama shouted. The sylphs who had gathered were sent into a panic, running towards the backdoors in an effort to get out. Mama cocked her shotgun, and advanced on the cloud of smoke.  
“Come on you bastard, show me what you’re made of.”  
The door to the kitchen flung open, and Rory and Mike dove out of it, coughing. Mama glanced at them, then the open door.  
“You two ok?” She asked, still aiming down the sights of her gun. Mike gave her a thumbs up, then paused, coughing.  
“Why do you… have your… gun?” he asked. Mama gestured to the smoke. Mike looked at her, then the kitchen window, then back at her, and began to laugh. He nudged Rory, who looked at Mama and started to laugh with him. Mama watched as the two of them broke down with laughter while the abomination had seemingly attacked the lodge. Slowly, Mike got up, still hacking away.  
“No… no… it’s… we burnt some… food… on the stove.. whole thing smoked up on us.” Mike explained, in between dry hacks. Mama stared at him, eyes wide.  
“So it’s not the abomination, then?” Mama asked. Mike shook his head.  
“Jesus christ. Ok. Mike, Rory, go open some windows. Actually, make that all of ‘em. And tell the sylphs that we’re good.” she said. The two of them flashed thumbs up at her, and went away, leaving Mama in front of the smoking kitchen window - which was starting to thin out already, thankfully - shaking her head. After a moment, she walked back to her office, stowing the shotgun in the safe underneath one of the floorboards, which she’d kept there since she started the Pine guard, nearly a decade ago. She glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was barely seven. Her sleep schedule had been all off kilter the past few days, but that was normal for her during a hunt. It would go back to normal when they’d killed this new abomination, she hoped. After a few moments, she strolled back out into the lobby, and met up with Mike.  
“Why were you two in the kitchen anyway? Rory can cook fine, he’s never done something like this before.”  
Mike shrugged. “Rory wanted to bake a cake for something, asked me for my help is all.”  
Rory trotted up to them, and whispered something that sounded suspiciously like ‘Mama’s Birthday’ to Mama. Mike raised an eyebrow.  
“Shit, that right?” he asked. Rory nodded. Mike looked at Mama, eyes squinted as though he were trying to parse some information out of her.  
“Alright, I’ve got to go do something. Run an errand. Rory, want to tag along?” he asked. Rory nodded.  
“Remember, we’ve got the hunt at noon, so don’t be too long.” Mama reminded him. Mike nodded, heading out the door.  
“And nothing too expensive!” Mama shouted after him. She was never one to advertise her birthday, which was the next day, the last day of their window before the abomination could leave kepler. Even so, people inevitably found out, and she generally received something. She smiled to herself, then went out into the back.  
“Hey y’all! Kitchen’s fine! No abomination, just two dingus’ tryin’ to bake a cake.” she called. Some of the sylphs had retired to the hot springs to charge up for the day, but the closer ones nodded, and continued to go about their days. Mama walked back inside, and sat in her office, drawing up some plans.  
At nine fifteen, she heard a knock at her door. She looked up as it creaked open, and saw Thacker.  
“Want to give me a hand with some of these fans? We should probably test ‘em before we go out today.”  
Mama nodded, and followed him out to his car, where a pile of largeish fans sat in the backseat. The two of them each gathered a few in their arms, and walked back into the lodge, setting them along the kitchen window sill.  
“Why’s it all smokey in here?” Thacker asked, slightly alarmed. Mama smirked.  
“Mike an’ Rory were tryin’ to bake a cake for tomorrow, burnt it.” Mama told him. Thacker laughed, going around to the kitchen and plugging the cords into outlets. Mama switched all the fans on, and they began to blow the smoke out of the kitchen, and through the open doors in the back of the dining room.  
“So, got a plan drawn up?” Thacker asked, coming back around. Mama shrugged, then nodded.  
“Beginnings of one, at least. Best wait for Mike to show up again afore we talk it over, don’t want to say the same thing twice.”  
Thacker gave her a thumbs up, and sat down at one of the tables, setting up his laptop. A few minutes later, Mike and Rory walked in, the sylph carrying a mid sized bag. Upon seeing Mama, Rory ran to his room, opening and slamming the door. Mike walked up nonchalantly.  
“Gang.” he said. Thacker glanced up at him, then back to his work.  
“Alright Mike, you got what you needed?” Mama asked him. He nodded, and sat down across from Thacker. Mama joined them.  
“Alright, so since it’s so close to Whistles’ place, as well as the rest of Kepler, I’d say guns are out. Thacker, you still have that sword you got a few years back?”  
Thacker nodded. “Yeah, it’s in my car now. Weapons aren’t the important thing, I don’t think. You said your spear barely did anything to it, right?”  
“Yeah, that’s right.”  
“Ok, so if it survives in fire and smoke, at least from what we’ve seen, which one do we want?”  
“We might not have a choice. Seems to me that whatever way we do it, it’ll be fire.” Thacker finished.  
“So we rely on the hose, then?” Mike asked. “Whistles better have a fuckin water connection there.”  
“It does,” Thacker said, “I checked the place out yesterday on my way home.”  
“Ok, so we set up the hose, pop a match, and try and… what, starve it?”  
Mama nodded. “We can’t just shut the gas back off, not at first, at least. We need to keep it occupied while someone goes in an’ shuts it off. So we spray it with water, combat it that way, maybe use some weapons on it, then while it’s distracted, trying to grow, maybe, we cut it off at the source. If we get rid of the way it moves we should be able to get rid of it.”  
“Ok, I’ll shut it back off.” Mike volunteered. Mama nodded at him.  
“Then me and Thacker are on distraction duty.”  
“Ok, we’ve got a plan. Pine guard, let’s move.”

-

The lot next to Whistles’ place was made of cracked grey pavement, smelled of gasoline and motor oil, and had one protrusion aside from a few concrete blocks on the side away from the street. On the side closest to the fence Whistles had put up nearly a decade prior was a large concrete pillar. On its side, facing away from the fence, was a valve, and what looked like a connector for a hose. The road was blessedly silent, being on the outskirts of Kepler proper, not a lot of people drove them unless they needed to. On the sidewalk was a fire hydrant, which Thacker connected one end of the hose to. He held onto the nozzled end, and got into position, pointing it at the valved pillar. Mike parked on the sidewalk, got out, and hid near the back of the fence. Mama cracked her neck.  
“Alright Pine guard, whatever happens, happens. Let’s do this.” She said, just loud enough that both Thacker and Mike could hear her. She walked up to the valve, and began to turn it. Immediately, a rush of warm gas blew out of the nozzle, creating a high pitched whistling noise. Reaching into the pocket of her windbreaker, Mama produced a pack of matches. She popped one alight with her fingernail - a trick she’d learned several years ago for the hell of it - and tossed it into the path of the gas, backing up as she did. Immediately it blazed to live, creating a blow torch effect. Mama ran back to Thacker, and crouched down.  
For a minute, nothing happened.  
Then another.  
And one more.  
Mama was about to walk over and check it out when the flames seemed to grow, rearing up until it looked like two streams of fire, which she realized were arms. Where the streams conjoined was an orb of yellow light, pulsing angrily.  
“Thacker, now!” Mama cried. Thacker pushed the nozzle, and a powerful stream of water erupted from the end of the hose. The fire hissed angrily, and steam shot up where they collided. Thacker began to laugh.  
The fire grew exponentially, almost to the height of the pine trees behind Amnesty lodge, which was tall. For the moment, it just stayed there, until it slowly began to form the shape of a man, no legs, but a torso protruding from where the fire began. The high pitched whistle grew louder as arms and a head formed from it. Mama recoiled slightly from the heat it gave off, and saw that the pavement beneath the thing was starting to shimmer. Thacker increased the pressure, and the water shot up to meet it. Mama reached behind her and grabbed the spear from the ground, brandishing it as menacingly as she could.  
“How’s it going?” she asked Thacker. For a hunt, it was unnaturally quiet.  
“Well, I think. It hasn’t attacked us ye-”  
Thacker began to move to the right as the creature lifted its arm up. Mama rolled to the right, and successfully dodged as it slammed down heavily - as heavily as something without weight could slam down at least - on the pavement beside her. She felt sweat bead on her brow from the proximity to the flames, and quickly ripped off her windbreaker, thankful for the cold october air on her skin.  
“Think we’ve gotten it enough?” Mama asked. Thacker shrugged, increasing the pressure. The dial on the side of the hose said they were at three quarters maximum pressure, and Mama could see that Thacker was having a hard time controlling it.  
The yellow orb was in its torso now, hovering ten or so feet above the ground. Mama brought the spear back, then let it fly towards the beast. Her aim was true as always. The spear pierced the light, and once again, went right through it, clattering to the ground behind their prey. Mama cursed as the thing brought another arm crashing down towards her, forcing her further away.  
“Thacker! More pressure!” she shouted. Thacker nodded, and was nearly lifted off his feet as he maxed out the pressure of the hose. The fire shrunk slightly, then Mama saw that it was trying to grow to combat it. Their time was now.  
“Mike! Do it!” she screamed. The fire brought an arm down at her, and this time, she was too slow. Pain ripped through her as fire licked at her leg, burning her pant leg away almost instantly, and burning her. She looked down, and was relieved to see it wouldn’t require a hospital trip, just a lot of bandages and Aloe Vera. She stumbled backwards, landing on her behind. Up ahead, Mike emerged from his hiding spot, and ran towards the valve. He made it about halfway before the fire took notice of him, and lowered itself to meet him.  
“Shit! Get out of there!” Thacker shouted at him. Mike sprinted backwards towards his car.  
“Maddie, you ok?” Thacker yelled. Mama nodded, then her eyes went wide as the fire slapped Thacker with unmistakable force, sending him flying backwards onto the pavement.  
“Fuck!” he cried from his spot on the ground. The hose, now without someone to control it, flew back and forth, spraying water this way and that. For a moment, Mama simply watched it, then she let out a scream of pain as the water smashed into her with the force of a bus, sending her scooting backwards. She felt her arm tense against something, then a snapping feeling. More pain shot up her body as her arm broke - cleanly, the doctor would say - against a concrete block. Faintly, struggling to stay conscious, she saw Mike get into his car, reverse so he was positioned pointing towards the valve, and accelerated, flooring the gas. Mama had time to wonder what the fuck before he smashed into it at better than fifty miles an hour. 

-

Mike watched as Mama was tossed aside by the hose, flicking wildly this way and that. He couldn’t see that her arm had broken, but he heard her scream in pain, and that was enough for him. He climbed into his jeep, and keyed the ignition. Not bothering to check if anyone was coming - it would be disastrous enough if there was - he reversed onto the street, then across it, then into the parking lot of the neighbouring empty lot, and positioned his car so the nose was pointing towards the fire. He scowled at it, and floored the acceleration towards the abomination. He was faintly aware of it turning towards him, and then he was under it. He had a moment to wish he had fastened his seatbelt, and then he smashed into the concrete pillar that the fire was coming out of.  
He blacked out for just a moment, and woke up to white. He stared, puzzled, then groaned in pain. His leg was wrenched, for sure. But, he realized, the airbags had gone off! He produced a pocket knife from - of course - his pocket, and poked a hole in the airbag, sitting back as it deflated. 

-

Mama saw the fire diminish, then go out entirely as Mike smashed into the valve. His car seemed to crumple against it, and she saw the airbags deploy in the cab, keeping him inside. She laid back on the ground for a moment, gritting her teeth against the near agonizing pain, before pulling herself to a sitting position. She saw that something was leaking from the bottom of his car.  
“Maddie… you ok?” Said Thacker from somewhere behind her. His voice was slurred, and when he ran into her vision, he nearly fell over as he dropped to his knee.  
“Broke my arm, I… I think. An’ burnt my leg. You?”  
Thacker smiled wildly. “Concussion, I… think. Wh… Mike?”  
Thacker turned to look at his car, and smiled. From inside the Cab, Mike gave him a thumbs up, and leaned his head back against the headrest for a moment.  
“We did it?” Mama asked. Thacker nodded. It was nearly silent after the horrible metal against concrete cacophony of the crash. The only noise in the area was a quiet, high pitched whistling noise. Mama began to smile, then froze. Despite her burn, her body went dead cold.  
“Oh fuck.” she said simply. Thacker looked at her, then traced her vision to what she was looking at.  
“What is… shit. Shit!”  
Underneath Mike’s car, where Gasoline was now leaking steadily, was a yellow orb of light, drifting through the gasoline. It was diminished, but there, nonetheless. It was slowly making its way towards the source of the leak.  
“Mike! Fuck! MIKE! GET OUT OF THERE!” Mama screamed, as loud as she could. Mike looked at her, then saw her pointing underneath the car, and his eyes went wide. 

-

Inside the car. Mike froze like a deer in the headlights for just a moment. It’s underneath me, he thought. He saw Mama and Thacker screaming at him from outside, warning him to get out of his car for Christ's sake. He pushed the airbag off of him, and went to open the door.  
The handle stuck.  
Mike cursed loudly enough that he could hear it over the ringing of his ears. Of all the goddamn times it had to stick, it chose now. He wrenched the handle over and over and over again, tears running down his eyes. He looked up out the window and made eye contact with Mama, eyes wide with fear.  
He felt heat.  
He felt nothing.

-

Mama looked at him and saw with minute detail, the tears in his eyes as he looked up at her, moments before the yellow light went into his gas tank, and the car erupted, lifting off of the ground for a moment as a fireball soared high into the sky. The light grew massive, then as the fire connected with the thin trickle of gas, disappeared into the nozzle. Without needing to check her watch, she knew it was noon, and that the gas had been cycled. It would head up to the mine north of the gate, where it would sit for the next day, before the limit broke, and it could leave Kepler. Mama thought all of this for a second as she watched Mike, optimistic Mike, caring Mike, funny, nice, kind Mike, die. Thacker stared, mouth agape. In nearly a decade of fighting the pine guard, just herself at first, then Thacker, and barely a year before, they had recruited Mike. Mike who had been excited to keep his town safe. He hadn’t had any kids, or even a girlfriend, thank christ. But Mike, who had been her friend, her friend. She’d watched him die, unable to do a thing. She felt cold tears run down her hot face.  
In the distance, a siren began to blare through the still valley of Kepler.

-

The next twelve hours were a blur. She vaguely remembered Thacker taking the lead, talking to the cops, and the EMT’s, explaining everything away. She’d gone first to the hospital, then to the police station, where she’d been of no use, not speaking, or drinking, just staring into space, replaying what had happened over and over in her mind. Finally, the cop Thacker had spoken to, Sheriff Owens, had taken them both home. First to Thacker’s place, then to Amnesty lodge. He’d asked if she needed help getting inside, and Mama had spoken for the first time since the accident. She shook her head, and said “no, I’ll be ok.”  
That was a lie.  
It was close to midnight as she walked up to the front door of the lodge. She tried the door, and finding it locked, knocked on the door. After a few moments, Rory, eyes wide with fear, appeared from the dining room. He ran forwards, opened the door, and hugged her.  
“Mama! Oh thank goodness you’re safe! Did you do it? Did you kill the abomination? What happened to your arm? Are the other’s ok? How’s Thacker? How’s Mike?”  
Mama, determined not to cry, felt tears run down her face anyway. She took Rory by the shoulder, and knelt down slowly until the two of them were face to face.  
“Thacker’s fine, Rory. Mike… I’m… I’m so… so sorry, Rory.”  
Rory’s eyes welled up with tears.  
“Wh… he’s fine, isn’t he? He’s ok, right? Mama tell me he’s ok. Tell me he’s ok!”  
Mama didn’t trust herself to speak, and so only shook her head. Rory sat back hard, and began to wail. Mama watched him for a few minutes, waiting for the wails to break down to sobs, which turned into whimpers, until he was sitting with his head in his hands, crying silently to himself. Another sylph, a ghost named Moira, walked out into the lobby from her room. She looked at Rory, then to Mama.  
“Want me to take him to bed?” she asked. Mama nodded at her. With surprising strength, Moira lifted Rory off the ground - a feat she was only capable of when she was blending in - and carried him to his room. Mama stood shakily, and hobbled over to her room. She sat there until the wee hours of the night, where she passed into a fitful sleep.

-

She woke up at six that morning as the sun rose. her arm ached fiercely, and before a conscious thought made its way to her, she swallowed two of the white pills the doctor had prescribed to her. her leg was covered in bandages, but underneath them it felt awful. the painkillers would help with that too, she supposed.  
Slowly, she got dressed, not bothering to don her windbreaker, which at this point was mostly cinders anyway, and stepped into the front lobby. Dawn had just risen over Kepler, and most of the denizens of the lodge were asleep, but she saw one huddled figure in the back, sitting alone at a table. She walked over to rory and sat down at the table across from him. there was a package, wrapped in gaudy paper with a large red bow taped to the top.  
"We picked this out for you yesterday. Well, Mike did most of the picking out, I just tagged along." Rory said, his voice quiet. Mama nodded.  
"I know it's dangerous, Mama, but somehow I thought he'd be ok. That he wouldn't get hurt." He continued.  
"I know sweet pea. This line of work ain't easy. I wish…. Hell, I don't know what I wish." She said lamely. Rory looked up at her. His face was pale, and he looked like he hadn't slept at all the past night. Mama didn't blame him.  
"Did he at least… was he brave up to the end?"  
Mama thought of Mike ramming his jeep into the abomination without a second thought, and of the tears in his eyes when he looked at her for the last time. She hadn't thought there were more tears in her, but here they were running freely down her cheeks.  
"Yes honey. He was real brave, right up 'till the end." Mama said. Not a lie exactly, but not the whole truth. She didn't need to tell him how scared Mike had looked.  
"Good. That's good. I… Open it, please. It was from Mike." Rory said, nudging the package on the tabletop. Mama nodded, and slowly ripped open the wrapping.  
It was a brown leather duster, brand new. Deep pockets on either side, as well as a few stitched amateurishly to the inside fabric. On the inside, stitched the same way, was an amnesty lodge patch. Small loops of leather were about chest height on the coat, also an amateur job.  
"I had to do the stitching, Moira taught me last summer, and I thought you could use a few additions." Rory explained as Mama inspected it.  
"It's wonderful, Rory. Thank you, really." Mama said, trying for a smile. Rory just nodded.  
"I hope it’s the right size. Mike seemed sure, but it looks a little big."  
Mama stood up and donned the duster, sweeping it around her dramatically as she did. It was a bit big, but Mama nodded.  
"It's perfect, Rory."  
"Wear it when you fight today, it'll help protect you. The tag says it's flame retardant."  
Mama nodded as Thacker walked into the lodge, using the spare key to unlock the front door. Without a word, he flopped down into a chair at the table. His face was gaunt and unshaven, as if he also hadn't slept last night. His eyes seemed cloudy, as if he was looking through them, rather than at them.  
"Arlo? You ok?" Mama asked. His eyes raked across her face, then focused on her.  
"Yeah, sorry. This concussions a bitch. That and, well, you know." He replied.  
She knew.  
"So do we have a plan? At midnight tonight we lose the abomination." Thacker murmured. Mama nodded slowly.  
"Yeah I got a plan. It's a coal mine, right?"  
Thacker nodded. "Right."  
"Then let's burn that mother fucker out."

-

The rest of the day was a blur. Since seven that morning she'd been out and about preparing for the final confrontation. Sweet talking those who needed to be sweet talked, and greasing the palms of those who couldn't be convinced. Arlo was mostly out of commission, his concussion worse than he'd let on, She'd had Rory walk down to the parks service building to return the hose even. Now, twelve hours later, she thought she was prepared.  
The abandoned mine was a gaping maw set into the side of the foothills of one of the many mountains that dotted appalachia. A few vacated buildings were arranged in a border, the whole thing a rather rustic, old western feel. She'd been to it before, but it had never appealed to her. Today however, as she fed a fuse through a rubber casing, which she then buried shallow in the ground, it was the site of the final confrontation between the beast, and her. She'd had to conscript some of the sylphs today, and they'd been lugging up coal and coal dust, as well as planks of wood, leaving it part way down in the entrance of the mine.  
Finally, she was done, the end of the fuse led away into the trees, where Thacker would be waiting with a match. The fuse itself ran down into the cave, to a point halfway in between the outside, and the coal she'd had the sylphs gather. She'd had to bury what it was connected to a little ways down, but hoped it would produce the same results. She'd never used dynamite before, but she'd seen movies. She’d gotten it years back from one of her more disreputable friends. The night after her first hunt that was, she’d bought it in case she needed to bring down the archway (which she now knew was impossible.)  
She stood up, scraping the last bit of dirt into the small divot she’d made with a shovel. As night set in, she turned to look at Kepler. The light of the pizza hut sign cast a red haze in the violet sky, lights dotted all the way up the side of mount Kepler, showing the way for any early skiers. Almost a kilometer away to her south, the lights of amnesty lodge would be shutting off, Mama had entrusted closing up to Moira the ghost, who although intangible, was a hell of a lot better at cleaning up the place than Mama was. The trees rustled in the light breeze, Mama turning her face to it with a smile. Quickly, she shook out three white painkillers from the small plastic bag, hastily stuffed into one of the pockets of her coat. She hated to swallow them dry - she’d heard it burnt a hole in your throat - but not presented with another option, did it, grimacing slightly.  
“You alright?” Thacker asked, stretching his legs. Mama shrugged.  
“Alright as I’ll ever be, how’s the old grapefruit?”  
“I’ll have you know it’s still a fairly young grapefruit, and not that great. Should be able to light a match.”  
“You better. My ass is on the line if you don’t.” she warned. Thacker nodded slowly, careful not to rattle his brain any more.  
“I know. So, how do you feel going up against an elemental with a water gun?”  
She felt rather ridiculous, come to think of it. She’d bought and filled several water pistols, and one water rifle, as well as an old slingshot she’d found. Barrels were set up behind the three buildings, each containing a sizable amount of water balloons. While Thacker had the easy job of sitting back and lighting a fuse, Mama had the dangerous task of getting the abomination as angry as possible. The angrier it got, the bigger it got, which meant that her plan was most likely to succeed if she could send it into a blind rage. Her leg throbbed sympathetically, the skin still tender and raw. Her arm was no better, fixed to her side by a sling as well as the cast. Her left sleeved hung limp at her side. She’d wanted to bring her shotgun, but Moira had reminded her just before she had left that the heat from a fire creature might blow the shells inside prematurely.  
“Alright Arlo, I’m heading out there, I’m gonna go light the fire. You listen for when I tell you, then you light it. That fuse is a fast burner, means we got about thirty seconds after you light it when the cave goes up. If all goes according to plan, it’ll cave in and split the abomination off. You read?” she asked. Thacker nodded.  
Mama stepped out of the trees and stood in front of the gaping cave. A breeze came and lifted the tailends of her duster, letting it flow backwards and making her feel like a Clint Eastwood character. It felt good. After a moment, she stepped into the cave, her leg not quite screaming at her, but giving a good shout. The painkillers would kick in soon, but until then she’d just have to deal with it.  
For some reason, the people who made the gas line had placed it inside the cave, so that was where Mama planted the dynamite, a half a foot underground. A silver rod with a red nozzle on it stuck out of the ground, feeding into a small machine that also stuck out of the ground, this one at about stomach height. It seemed to be the computer that cycled the gas every week, like Trevor from the public works building said it would. Sure enough, there was a clock counting down. Only a few hours left. She walked past it about six inches, coming to the massive pile the sylphs had made. It nearly filled the tunnel, a massive collection of coal, coal dust, and planks of wood. This had its own fuse, which she knelt in front of. She popped a match with her fingernail and touched it to the smaller fuse. Once she was sure it was lit, she turned the knob on the gas line, and hobbled as fast as she could out of the cave, turning and standing ready with her water rifle.  
After a few seconds, she heard a Fwump that was the coal dust, and saw a dim light from the cave entrance. Very quickly, the light brightened, as if someone was coming out of the cave with a lantern. The wood must’ve gone up, then. Their pile was mostly wood, and should burn for a long time.  
“Come on,” Mama muttered to herself, “Come on you sumbitch.”  
For a few moments, nothing happened. Then the light exploded out of the mouth of the cave, and Mama - who was standing close to one of the buildings - stepped back from the heat. The fire elemental sprung fully formed from the mouth of the cave. There wasn’t any smoke that she could see, but she also couldn’t see the yellow light she had aimed for last time.  
“Shit!” she shouted. The elemental shot a tendril of flame at her, but she was already on the move. Ignoring the searing pain of her leg she ran and ducked behind one of the buildings, a cyclone of fire jetting past her down the central dirt path of the mine. She quickly ducked out, shooting a squirt of water with her rifle. Despite its size, the creature still hissed away from the water like a cat. It seemed that even a small amount could hurt it. She stood and ran from one side of the drag to the other, laying down some cover water as she did so. She set her water rifle on the ground, momentarily out of danger, pulled the slingshot out. Then she sighed, wiggled the fingers of her broken arm, and said:  
“Should’ve thought of that. Guess I’ll have to use my throwin’ arm.” she said, taking one of the water balloons in hand and hucking it over the empty building. The crackle of the flames were met with a hissing noise, and she felt the heat recede just a bit. She picked up her rifle again and waved it at the abomination.  
“Yeah that’s right! Come at me mother fucker! I’ll kill you!”  
The elemental took the challenge, growing about to the size of one of the buildings, it trembled in a silent roar, the only noise being Mama’s taunting, and the crackle of the flames. Mama staggered backwards, buffeted by the sudden heat. The duster flew off her left side from the sudden updraft of heat, pinned to her from her right arm. After a moment, she raised her rifle again, shooting blindly through squinted eyes at the massive target.  
“Hey Thacker! You see the light yet?”

-

Thacker did not see the light, however, above the rush of wind, he did hear his name.  
“My time to shine.” he muttered, lighting a match from the free matchbooks the lodge gives out. The woods were usually pretty shady, but the light from the elemental allowed him to see the fuse poking out of it’s rubber casing. Quickly, he lit it, and after two seconds, it had already burned down beneath the edge of the rubber casing, and underground, where it was now heading towards the dynamite.  
“All in a day’s work for the pine guard. I lit it, Maddie!” he said, shouting that last part to be heard.

-

“I lit it, Maddie!”  
“Shit!” Mama swore. The fuse was already going along. Maddie ducked behind the brick building to her right and lobbed a few more water balloons over it. She heard a hissing sound, and ran out to see what damage she had caused, that was what saved her.  
“HOLY SHIT!” Mama shouted. She was lifted up and backwards by the sudden onslaught of wind. The elemental had forgone it’s more humanoid form, instead focusing it’s might and shooting outwards, literally melting the front wall of the building she had been hiding behind. She saw the sparse grass growing in between that building and the next one suddenly combust, and was momentarily glad her hair hadn’t done the same. She landed on her back, quickly pushing herself up to standing. Without time to think, she ran behind the building to her left and threw more water balloons. This time, she sprinted away immediately, watching again as this river of fire shot past her. She glanced back at the main body. Was it angry enough yet?  
Slowly, the yellow light emerged from the cave mouth, somehow brighter than the fiery body surrounding it. As it did, the fire seemed to swell, now taller than the pine trees that surrounded the mine. Mama stared, mouth agape, as the creature split at the top into multiple tendrils of fire, all of which moved back and forth in a silent dance. After a moment, the dancing tendrils swirled together, and dove down towards Mama. 

-

Thacker had no idea how the fight was going, but he saw the light now, which was good. He checked his watch, only about three seconds left.

-

Mama flinched backwards, doing an odd, half topple, half run to safety. She watched as the fire veered away from the area of the ground she’d been standing, and began to pursue her. She had time to think well, it was a good run, for what it mattered before the flames reached her. The heat was unbearable, her whole body was covered in sweat, her leg and arm both screaming in pain. She could swear her eyebrows had been burned off. But the fire never reached her. Instead, a loud BOOM filled the air, a cloud of dust was kicked up from the mouth of the cave, obscuring it. The fire dissipated immediately, showering her in cinders, which she quickly wiped off. She watched as the abomination - the true elemental - rose into the air, nothing more than yellow light now, it shone above what had been their battlefield, lighting the night long enough for Thacker to help Mama up, before it fizzled away into nothingness.  
“Holy…. Fuck. That was a lot.” Mama gasped. Thacker nodded.  
“You did a great job Maddie, a real great job.”  
“Thanks, Arlo. come on, let’s get back to the lodge before any lawmen show up.  
The two of them, Arlo supporting mama, walked the kilometer through the woods that got them back to the lodge. Moira let them in, and after some questions - mostly to ascertain injuries and level of success - Moira led the slightly disoriented Thacker to his room. Mama went to her own, not even bothering to lock the door behind her, she pulled her duster off, hanging it on the chair in the corner, and passed out face down on the bed, exhausted. 

-

Madeline Cobb, now nearly twenty years older, was woken from her daze by a knock on the door.  
“Yeah? Who is it?” she called. The door creaked open, and the face of Aubrey little peeked in.  
“Hey Mama, sorry to bother you, but Barclay wanted to know if you were coming to dinner? Ned and Duck dropped by too and he made way too much, they’re all eating now.” she said. Aubrey was one of the latest pine guard members. A coincidence that she was the one to wake her up from her dream of the fire elemental. She hadn’t thought of that in ages.  
“Yeah Aubrey, go tell him I’ll be there in a minute, just gotta wrap up some stuff first.” Mama said. Aubrey gave a short salute, and closed the door once again. She smiled sadly, and reached into her duster. In her wallet was a photograph. It was the only one she had of Rory, showing him beaming in front of the lodge. Pre-Mike.  
A year after Mike died, Rory announced to Mama that he wanted to see the rest of the country. While she’d been worried at first, she knew that Moira had told him what few ways there were of regaining something akin to Sylvain’s light here on earth. He’d planned his trip around a series of hot springs that ran across the continental United states, from west virginia all the way to california. He’d sent postcards to her at each of his stops, although he stayed in each one for nearly a year. She had them all in a stack in her room. He’d sent small notes as well, asking how everyone was doing, talking about his travels, and ending it off with ‘miss you! Rory.’  
Around two thousand ten, she’d gotten a call. A young man was found near a hot spring, dead. She supposed he’d chosen that, maybe hoping that like Moira, he would be granted a reprieve from whatever spirit lived in the earth, and live on as a ghost. But she could never be sure.  
She’d retrieved the body, and buried it beneath a large pine tree, close to the archway. There wasn’t anything marking his grave, but every so often Mama went to visit it. She hadn’t lost many people in her line of work, but it hurt every time. As she got up, she thought about her new recruits, Aubrey Little, Duck Newton (it’s a nickname), and Ned ‘Insert-name-here’ Chicane. They were good people, and she hoped to god that whatever happened, they wouldn’t end up the way Mike did. She opened her door, and walked out to where her new pine guard was eating. Doctor Harris bonkers sat on Aubrey’s lap while his owner chatted happily with Dani, a pale, Laura Dern-like sylph. Ned and Duck were explaining to Jake Cool-Ice the concept of motorized skateboards. Barclay was standing in the kitchen, apparently cooking even more food. Moira plinked away at the piano, playing a beautiful moonlight sonata. For a moment everything was perfect.  
But moments like that are never meant to last.


End file.
